Misogynist graffiti found near Dalhousie Student Union Building

Two members of the Dalhousie Student Union say they’ve been targeted by misogynist graffiti. (TIM KROCHAK / Staff / File)

Two female Dalhousie Student Union executives have discovered misogynist and threatening graffiti on campus that they believe targets them.

Jacqueline Skiptunis and Jennifer Nowoselski were walking out the back entrance of the student union building at about 9:30 p.m. Monday when they spotted a scrawled message on a wall of a nearby residence that read: “Die DSU bitches.”

Earlier in the day, Nowoselski, the union’s internal vice-president, had seen another message on the same wall that said: “Die DSU, Senate and BOG (board of governors). Go Dan and Cody.” She reported that graffiti to the manager of the union after she saw it.

“Dan” likely refers to Dan Nicholson, who ran successfully against Nowoselski for union president in the recent election, and “Cody” is likely Cody Couture, who ran unsuccessfully against another candidate for academic and external vice-president, said Skiptunis, who now holds the latter position.

Skiptunis believes the message was intended for her and Nowoselski, who have frequently raised issues of sexism and misogyny on campus.

“You do have two women who consistently and very deliberately don’t let these topics fall off the table within the student union,” Skiptunis said Tuesday. “This is something that we want to address on our campus. It’s within every faculty. It’s within every person. We need to address it.”

(JENNIFER NOWOSELSKI)

Although the noun “bitch” is often used in a non-gender-specific way, she said in this instance it’s clear it was used misogynistically.

“One of the most obvious things here is that you’re using the feminine to be derogatory. You’re very specifically using feminine language and meaning it in a way that’s meant to be disparaging,” she said. “So that in and of itself, to me, that’s more indicative that it’s hateful and it is misogynistic to use those kinds of things, especially to tell people to die.”

Skiptunis said that behaviour is not uncommon.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t something that’s totally out of the ordinary. Except this time it was public,” she said. “Typically, when this happens — and it does happen constantly — it’s a bit more subtle.”

Dalhousie University spokesman Brian Leadbetter said the graffiti was promptly removed and the university will try to identify the person responsible for it.

“Generally, we do try to evaluate what we can to identify who’s (the) perpetrator. I’m sure that those steps would be followed,” Leadbetter said, adding that police are not involved in investigating the incident.

However, Dalhousie security, the student union and the Halifax Regional Police’s community response officer will discuss graffiti at a previously scheduled upcoming meeting, he said.